At the August 24 press conference announcing the formation of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, BAEO President Howard Fuller noted the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics had this year begun reporting on school choice and parental satisfaction.
The appearance of this new data set in The Condition of Education 2000 “signals heightened awareness of school choice and parental satisfaction as major educational issues,” Fuller wrote in his prepared remarks.
The data show that the more choice available to parents, the more satisfied they are with schools their children attend and the school’s teachers, academic standards, and discipline. Data from The Condition of Education 1999 show that choice of schooling is widespread in the U.S., except for poor families. Data from the same report show a significant increase in private school tuition costs from preschool to high school.
